The Illinois Commodity Conference is next Tuesday, November 23, 9 am to 3 pm.  You’ve probably received a brochure in the mail by now, but you can also review the agenda here. The conference planners have put together a fantastic meeting.  Even though you may have missed the early registration deadline, don’t worry, registration is also available at the door.  AND if you visit the IL Corn’s Facebook page, you may be lucky enough to win a FREE registration!

Key points about this year’s conference:

• The agenda focuses on getting farmers engaged in telling their own story – and primarily encourages social media because that’s easy to do, that’s where the conversations are already occurring, and you don’t need major internet access to participate!  All you need is a smartphone!

• Research tells us that the non-farm public doesn’t understand us.  We are also finding out that consumers want to hear the truth FROM FARMERS.  Farmers are considered trustworthy sources of information about farming and food production so we are our own best storytellers.  Farmers MUST get engaged.  We are less than 2% of the U.S. population. There aren’t enough of us to wait around for the neighbor to do it!

• The non-farm public does not want to hear from associations or trade groups.  They can train us on how to participate but they can’t effectively do it for us.

• This conference will get you motivated and educated to participate in the farm discussions happening all over the web. 

• Thanks to our biggest corporate sponsors: Syngenta, Pioneer, and Monsanto!  Hosting associations are the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Pork Producers Association, Illinois Beef Association, Illinois Milk Producers’ Association, and Illinois Wheat Association.